Why “spin” is important: here are two soldiers’ descriptions of their military service.
1. To avoid the draft during the Vietnam War, I enlisted for the easiest job in the US Army. I failed many tests in Basic Training, but passed my training to be a radar operator. I spent a year and a half in an air-conditioned building on Okinawa, never saw combat, then returned to the United States, where I finished my enlistment as a clerk and was twice cited for efficiency.
2. I did not wait to be drafted, but enlisted in the US Army during the Vietnam War. I volunteered for Special Forces, but despite high scores, I did not qualify. I passed my AIT with a perfect score, the first ever to do so. I spent eighteen months in southeast Asia. I cannot tell the details of what I did there, but I survived four suicide missions. I finished my enlistment as the best recruiter in the Army. I have received two Presidential Citations.
Would you believe BOTH statements are TRUE descriptions of MY military career? Only the spin is different. Here is a spin-free description:
3. I enlisted to avoid the draft. In Basic, I volunteered for many tests, in order to buy snacks from the snack truck, but deliberately failed them. One was for Special Forces. In AIT, I “maxed” my radar course and was sent to Okinawa, an island near Vietnam, for eighteen months. My job there was classified. Four times, we stood off Russian bombers, using nukes that would have killed us too, if we had fired them. Fortunately, the Russians backed down. Back in the US, I became a re-enlistment clerk, and twice received the Presidential Citation for best recruiter in the US Army.
So, am I a hero? Or a wimp? Or both? You decide.
